


Clan Hyuuga: A Legacy to Protect

by eloquentelegance, Loudest_Voice



Series: Two Households, Both Alike in Dignity [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Clan Politics, Gen, fugaku gets cucked, slavery sucks, the clan can get fucked
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2018-11-21 20:45:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11365314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eloquentelegance/pseuds/eloquentelegance, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loudest_Voice/pseuds/Loudest_Voice
Summary: The Hyuuga have issues. In other news, water is wet. Just, you know, don't actually tell the Hyuuga.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is part of the fic we're co-writing that we posted [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11240931/chapters/25123071).

Being dragged out of deep sleep is a sublime kind of torture, so Hizashi allows himself a few brief seconds of pained palpitations and shaky breaths before he ignores a headache and accepts his cousin’s efforts to wake him. He frowns at her, still half-asleep, then activates his Byakugan. And jumps to his feet. Over in the Uchiha household, Uchiha Itachi crouches over Fugaku’s body as his father’s blood pools on his bedroom floor. He notes that his cousin is holding the younger Uchiha boy - asleep, but breathing unassisted, heart beating and chakra flowing normally - and reaches for the crash kit bedside his dresser.   
  
“Wake my brother’s wife,” says Hizashi, as he pops one of the soldier pills stashed with the crash kit, “and tell her to watch the children.” He has no idea what’s gone wrong, but Mikoto isn’t in her house, Hiashi is not in theirs, and Hizashi won’t waste a drop of chakra to expand his field of vision further.   
  
“Should I get Neji and Hinata-sama in one room?” asks his cousin.  
  
“No.” Hiashi would not have left the house if the danger was that immediate, and if anyone had forced him, the ensuing fight would have woken half the village. “Just send word to the hospital and stay alert until I return.”   
  
The Uchiha household is mercifully close, sparing Hizashi the need to spend chakra getting there. Someone has disabled the warding seals to Itachi’s room, which had probably resulted in Fugaku’s injury, but would now serve to make Hizashi’s job a little bit easier. If Itachi notices him coming in through the window, he’s too preoccupied pressing a blood-soaked bedsheet to Fugaku’s wound - a deep puncture that missed the subclavian artery and its major tributaries, but still gored the upper lobe of the right lung, almost reaching the wedge of the middle lobe. He’s still breathing despite the collapsed lobe, but his heart flutters on too quickly, barely hanging on to a viable rhythm. A snake corpse in two pieces lies less than a foot away, its head with its mouth open and forked tongue curled on the floor, sliced away from a long, charred tail about as tall as Itachi.   
  
“Hold pressure,” says Hizashi, as he leans down and cracks open the crash kit. The blood is not coagulating as it should, but the pressure couldn’t hurt. An acrid stink hangs around the wound, and over the pool of snake saliva under the snakehead.   
  
“I must help Mother,” says Itachi, voice thin.  
  
“No, I still need you here,” says Hizashi, slipping on a pair of gloves and reaching for a laryngoscope. It goes down Fugaku’s throat without issue, confirming Hizashi’s initial impression that there are no neck wounds. Small favor, he supposes.  
  
“Should I expect any more assailants?” he asks Itachi, as he inserts the endotracheal tube.   
  
“I don’t know,” admits Itachi.  
  
“I don’t see more anyway.” It’s the only comfort Hizashi can offer. “Pass me the blue bag.” He could reach for it himself, but Itachi could use the distraction.  
  
Fugaku coughs, startling a minute flinch from Itachi.  
  
“It’s just a late gag reflex,” lies Hizashi, intent on keeping his assistant calm. Blood keeps pouring from the puncture wound, most of it pooling inside Fugaku’s chest cavity. “Here.” Hizashi grabs one of Itachi’s small hands and pulls it towards the blue rubber air bag he’s connected to the endotracheal tube. “You’re gonna breathe for him.”  
  
“Medic-san, I know you must try to save him,” says Itachi, red eyes wide and shining with tears. “But if he’s dying, I want to go help my mother.”  
  
“Count to six, then one squeeze,” says Hizashi, his hand closing over Itachi’s and squeezing. What help could an eight-year-old be, against whoever had done this? “I can save him, but I need your help.”  
  
He pushes away the bedsheet, noting that the fluid is thin, as though it’s been dipped in water rather than blood. His Byakugan, aching and making-do with the thin, crackling chakra that the soldier pill is forcing out of him, can barely catch the faint granules of poison caked around the internal wound. The substance is easier to see in the saliva drying on the floor under the dead snake’s head - like black powder in oil. Minute particles of it are dissolving into the blood frantically flowing towards Fugaku’s wound, interfering with the clot trying to form there. In the hospital, Hizashi would call for a massive transfusion protocol.  
  
Maybe he _can’t_ save Fugaku.   
  
Unless. . . Well, the blood pooling inside Fugaku’s chest is fresh enough. And he only needs one hand to guide it back inside the appropriate blood vessels, right through the open cuts already there. Autotransfusion. He’s done it before, in the field, though it feels like a lifetime since he’s had to operate without the hospital’s support. But it hasn’t been. No matter how much it might feel like the conflict with Kumo has been going on forever, they only started fighting seriously in the last year.  
  
“Wash up and change your clothes,” he tells Itachi, taking over the air bag.  
  
“What?” asks Itachi.  
  
“You’re a blood-soaked mess and you need to look in control,” says Hizashi.  “So wash up, put on your headband, and go get your brother from my house.”  
  
Itachi stares at him for a long moment, and even without the Byakugan telegraphing his cold expression, Hizashi would get the message: the boy knows. Still, he stands up, hopefully to do what Hizashi has ordered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loudest_Voice: I'm now at [loudest-voice](https://loudest-voice.tumblr.com/) on tumblr. Chances are I won't be any better at this social media than any other. Come follow me if you got a tumblr!
> 
> Eloquentelegance: My tumblr is over at [cursedcomickids](https://cursedcomickids.tumblr.com/). It's mostly DC stuff but. Imma start putting some magic ninja content there too!!
> 
> Thanks to [@aluvsanime02](http://archiveofourown.org/users/luvsanime02/pseuds/luvsanime02) and [@pentapus](http://archiveofourown.org/users/pentapus/works) and [@Tanekore](http://archiveofourown.org/users/TaneKore/pseuds/TaneKore) for beta-reading this!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That escalated quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to [@aluvsanime02](http://archiveofourown.org/users/luvsanime02/pseuds/luvsanime02) for beta-reading this!

"Uncle Hiashi and Elder Honoka were arguing yesterday," Neji tells Hizashi, voice hushed.  
  
They're seated at the table, eating breakfast. A cousin stopped by to cook them something. Sage knows, Hizashi is barely human in the mornings. He'd be a hazard in the kitchen, and Neji is only four.  
  
"It's nothing to do with you," Hizashi yawns, pouring himself another cup of coffee.  
  
"I don't want them to be upset," says Neji, taking a sip of his miso soup.  
  
"Hm." Hizashi can't pretend he cares one way or the other.  
  
It's too damn early for this. Hizashi has just woken up. He had another long shift at the hospital yesterday, and passed out once he got home. He really doesn't have the time for any sort of nonsense. Not that his brother cares.  
  
"I think it has to do with the Uchiha," adds Neji.  
  
"Brilliant observation."  
  
"Don't be rude, Dad."  
  
Hizashi smiles lightly to himself. It's not every day a four year old grasps the subtleties of sarcasm.  
  
"I think it has to do with that Uchiha boy that has the Byakugan."  
  
Hizashi's eyes fly open. "Are you still spying on him? Haven't I told you to stop that?"

"I was just curious!"  
  
"No, enough. I don't want your excuses. We can't escalate the situation. The Uchiha will be offended if we violate their privacy."  
  
Their apartment door bangs open. Hizashi feels the roiling storm of Hiashi's chakra long before his brother enters the room.  
  
It's a pitfall of living together. They may have their own sections of the house. Hiashi lives in the west wing with his wife and daughter. Hizashi lives in the south wing with his son and the other servants. It does put some distance between them. But still, it provides little by way of privacy. His brother is fairly content to come and go as he pleases. Mercifully, his mother never leaves the east wing. The maids come to her. She doesn't seek them out.  
  
"Knocking," Hizashi spits out. "Ever heard of it?"  
  
"Nevermind that!" Hiashi waves a dismissive hand. "I was watching the Uchihas, and you won't believe how- how irresponsible, how negligent, how thoughtless- That woman doesn't deserve to be called a mother!"  
  
Hizashi shares a look with Neji. His son smiles serenely at him. Far too cheeky for his own good. He must get that from Hizashi.  
  
"Son, why don't you go play in your room? Your uncle and I have things to discuss."  
  
Neji's smile vanishes. He starts to pout. "But Daaad!"  
  
Hizashi silences him with a look. Grumbling under his breath, Neji hops off his chair, taking his bowl of miso soup with him. Hizashi holds up a hand, stopping Hiashi from continuing his rant. They wait until Neji's bedroom door clicks shut. Hizashi sighs and signals Hiashi to continue.

“How can she claim to be protecting her son? She usually leaves him alone in the house with only his brother! His eight-year-old brother!”  
  
“He is a chuunin,” says Hizashi.  
  
“He is a target! Orochimaru could return at any moment! He is a hazard to anyone near him, especially a three-year-old!”  
  
“Don’t they have an ANBU escort?” 

“Oh, yes. Hare or whoever. Very capable of stopping a legendary Sannin.”  
  
“We’re low on manpower. The Hokage spares who he can.” 

“For all we know, Sasuke might be a bigger prize for Orochimaru. A carrier of two doujutsu? And that woman just leaves him alone? Does she want him to be kidnapped?”  
  
“She has business to attend to, I’m sure. She’s the acting head of her clan, since Fugaku is in the hospital. For pity’s sake, it’s not like she’s out drinking and whoring.”  
  
"Regardless, we can't let this situation go on," insists Hiashi. "The Uchiha has our bloodline, and they must answer for it. Our clan customs must be upheld."  
  
"Must they?" Hizashi asks with a sigh.  
  
"Don't start martyring yourself now," hisses Hiashi. "Do you think for one second that if the situation was reversed and my wife birthed a boy with the Sharingan, the Uchiha would just stand back and do nothing?"  
  
"What the Uchiha would do in that situation is irrelevant," says Hizashi, taking a sip of his coffee. He needs the few seconds to maintain his composure. "That is not the situation we have."  
  
"Then what would they do in this situation?"  
  
"I don't know," admits Hizashi. "But I know what they wouldn't do: surrender a child who carries the Sharingan to our clan and the Caged Bird Seal."  
  
"Not even to avoid war?" asks Hiashi.  
  
"No. Whichever clansman did this was no fool. He knew that if he gave the Byakugan away to some peasant, the clan would adopt the child with little fuss. But the Uchiha will never surrender their child to us."  
  
"Then tell me," Hiashi crosses his arms, glaring down at Hizashi, "what would you do in my place? How would you defend the sanctity of our clan's customs?"  
  
"You know exactly what I think of the sanctity of our clan's customs." If it wasn’t such a pain to heal scald burns, Hizashi would throw the steaming coffee in Hiashi's face. "I would piss on them sooner than I'd start a war over them."

"Don't start with me now," says Hiashi. "So our father hurt you when we were young. That's an anomaly, and he's dead now. You're Konoha's favorite surgeon. Why can't you just let this go?"  
  
Hizashi has nothing to say to that. His brother will never understand, and Hizashi tries very hard not to hold it against him. Some days, it's harder than others.

"I have to leave for work," Hizashi tells him, rising to his feet. "You can stay here if you wish. Are you and Mother fighting?"  
  
Hiashi shrugs. "So what if we are? I don't need to stay here. I'm not hiding from her. In my own home, no less."  
  
Hizashi gifts him with an unimpressed look. Hiashi turns away, refusing to meet his gaze.  
  
"Whatever you decide to do, it doesn't matter to me. But!" Hizashi leans forward, tapping Hiashi on the chest. "Don't. Do. Anything. Rash."  
  
Hiashi faces him again, scowling. "Who do you take me for? Some rebellious teenager? I don't appreciate your tone!"  
  
Hizashi huffs. "I believe a rebellious teenager would be more manageable. Now, if you'll excuse me."

Shouldering past his brother, Hizashi gets ready for work. He stops by Neji’s room, dictating a list of chores before saying goodbye. Hiashi has chosen to stay, and Hizashi finds him drinking his leftover coffee. His brother has his Byakugan active, no doubt fixated on their neighbors. Hizashi rolls his eyes and says nothing, simply walking out. He heads over to the hospital, trying to forget the whole Uchiha-Hyuuga debacle.

But everyone insists on reminding him. The nurses gossip in the hallways. The medic interns whisper behind their clipboards. Even the janitors are talking, pausing their work to chat with a patient. It worsens his foul mood.

The Uchiha-Hyuuga debacle has become an overnight sensation. It’s like the newest, hottest telenovela to them. They don’t seem to grasp the imminent danger. The clans could easily go to war. The village will be thrown into chaos. Rivers of blood may run down the streets. And here they all are, giggling over Uchiha Mikoto and her mysterious Hyuuga lover. Hizashi feels a burning need to slap someone.

Hizashi can’t picture a solution where everyone walks away happy. There’s bound to be some fallout, most likely violent even in the best of outcomes. He prays for the children to be spared. But optimism doesn’t come naturally to him. His hopes are a flat, hollow imitation.

When his lunch break rolls around, Hizashi heads home. He needs a break from the incessant chit-chat, and maybe he can spend some time with Neji. He _should_ spend time with Neji. This tenuous peace won’t last. A single overstep can spark senseless fighting.

Hizashi must have cursed himself. Perhaps he should have expected this, knowing his terrible luck. It’s the same stroke of fate that labeled him second born, the younger son, belonging to the branch house.

“What are they doing here?” he asks, voice hoarse with disbelief. He tells his brother to do one thing - _just one_. Of course, Hiashi goes ahead and does something incredibly stupid. There can be no other explanation for Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi being in their backyard.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tea time with Hinata and Neji.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to [@aluvsanime02](http://archiveofourown.org/users/luvsanime02/pseuds/luvsanime02) for beta-reading this!

"Would you like more tea, Jounin-san?"  
  
Something is wrong. This morning, the Main family went to see the Hokage. They were gone for hours. It had something to do with the Uchiha. When Kosuke-ji-san came back, he looked really worried. His brow was all wrinkled, and he frowned a lot. He told Ko-nii to keep him and Hinata-sama out of sight.  
  
Which is stupid, Neji thinks. They have the Byakugan. They can't be out of sight.  
  
"Ahem. Jounin-san? Excuse me?"  
  
Unless they leave the village. Then they'll be "out of sight". Is that what Oji-san meant? Did he want them to leave the village? What happened? Are they fighting the Uchiha now?  
  
Oji-san left without any explanation. Neji bites his lip, a scream tickling the back of his throat. Grown-ups are so stupid. They never tell him stuff because he's only four. He's just a dumb, little baby to them.  
  
"Neji-nii-san!"  
  
Blinking, Neji looks up. Hinata-sama pouts at him, holding up a teapot.  
  
"I'm sorry. I wasn't... Did you need something?"  
  
He's being a bad playmate. Hinata-sama wanted to have a tea party. He's supposed to be some dashing Jounin or whatever. He’s forgot what his role is.  
  
Hinata-sama sighs. "A-Are you okay?"  
  
He opens his mouth, then closes it, then opens it again. The words don't come. He forgets how sentences work. His one thought is a single, high-pitched shriek. He closes his mouth and mutely shakes his head.  
  
Hinata-sama stares at him for a solid minute. She sets down the teapot, mouth pressed thin. Neji turns away and looks out the window. It's a beautiful day outside. He wants to run around, do some exercises, not sit in a stuffy room for hours.  
  
"Well, well. Up to some mischief, are we?"  
  
Looking over, Neji finds Keiko-ba-san shuffling into the room. She always reminds him of raw dough, all lumpy and shapeless. She used to be a chipmunk in a past life, or so she keeps telling them. A big, fat one, she'll say with a laugh. Neji believes her.

Hinata-sama giggles into her sleeve. "No, oba-san. No mischief."  
  
Oba-san gasps, resting a hand on her chest. "Children? Behaving? It's a world gone mad! Mad, I tell you!"  
  
Neji feels his lips curve up. He coughs lightly, fighting down his smile.  
  
"Would- Would you like some tea, Oba-san?" Hinata-sama asks.  
  
"Why, thank you! I'd be delighted," Oba-san replies, bowing with a flourish.  
  
She takes a seat. Hinata-sama pours her a cup.  
  
"Oba-san, do you know what's happening?" Neji asks.  
  
She doesn't answer, breathing in the tea's aroma. Neji scowls and crosses his arms. She takes a sip, eyes drifting shut. Hinata-sama watches her closely.  
  
"Do you, um... Is it...?"  
  
Oba-san hums, rubbing her chin. "I think..."  
  
Neji groans, bouncing his knee.  
  
Hinata-sama leans in closer. "Y-Yes?"  
  
Eyes flying open, she beams. "It's wonderful, dear. Well brewed."  
  
Hinata-sama flushes an apple red. "Than-"  
  
"Oba-san," Neji cuts in. "What's going on? Are we fighting the Uchiha? Is the village kicking us out? Why can't we leave the room?"  
  
Oba-san continues to smile at Hinata-sama. "Tea is very useful. It can cure aches and pains. It can soothe an anxious soul."  
  
Neji grits his teeth. "Oba-san!"  
  
"It can even tell the future." She turns to her cup, swirling it.  
  
Hinata-sama glances at Neji, biting her lip. "Um..."  
  
"The leaves," Oba-san continues. "If you can read the tea leaves, you will find the answers you seek."  
  
"Or I can just ask you," Neji snaps.  
  
She finally looks at him, a wry grin on her lips. "Aren't we smart?"  
  
Neji slams his hands on the tatami mat. "Is my dad in trouble? You can tell me! I won't cry! I'm not-" His throat closes. His eyes burn. He tries to breathe and chokes.

Oba-san sighs, turning away. She says nothing and sips her tea. Emptying her cup, she peers inside and hums thoughtfully.  
  
"Great change will come," she tells them. "A huge upheaval. Chaos. Fury. Betrayal."  
  
Hinata-sama gasps. "Did- Did the tea leaves really tell you that?"  
  
Oba-san blinks and looks up.  "Oh. No." She chuckles. "Kosuke did. He attended the hearing. It was a disaster, apparently. My tea leaves only predicted the weather. It's going to rain in two days."  
  
Neji glances out the window. The skies are clear, not a cloud in sight. It's the kind of day when rain seems to be a myth only told to scare small children. He gives Oba-san a questioning look.  
  
"Bring an umbrella," Oba-san says, smiling. "It's really the only thing anyone can do when it rains. We stay indoors, we wear long coats, we do whatever it takes to keep dry. But we cannot stop the rain from pouring. The rain comes when it comes."  
  
She looks at Neji. Her blank eyes study him the way splinters burrow into thumbs. He meets her stare straight on, lifting his chin.  
  
"It's nothing to be afraid of," she says.  
  
"I'm not scared of rain," he scoffs.  
  
"But you do fear the future. You worry about tomorrow, what will happen next."  
  
Neji swallows, falling silent.  
  
"It's a common fear. Everyone tries to control time. They set schedules. They arrange meetings. They fight the sun for setting so early. But there is no such thing as control. The earth could rupture tomorrow, and there's little we could do. There's no use worrying over what we can't change."  
  
"But," Neji starts, clearing his throat. "But we can bring an umbrella. We don't have to get wet."  
  
"Yes," Oba-san nods. "And sometimes, all we can do is stay indoors and drink tea." She lifts her cup and turns to Hinata-sama. "May I have some more?"  
  
"Oh!" Hinata jumps and reaches for the teapot. "Yes! Of course!"  
  
Neji frowns and stares at his empty cup. He eyes the leftover dregs, trying to puzzle out any sort of message. But he sees nothing, just some wet leaves.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hizashi cleans up after the fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to [@aluvsanime02](http://archiveofourown.org/users/luvsanime02/pseuds/luvsanime02) for beta-reading this!

It takes Hizashi about twenty minutes to heal the injuries Hiashi left on him. He spares a few moments to worry that his brother will be unable to fight off any assassins that come at him once people realize that the head of the Hyuuga Clan is not the kind of fighter most would expect, then heads back to work. The sick will keep coming no matter what drama might unfold around them.   
  
Hizashi can't control much in the world, but he has some measure of control over sickness. He's not so arrogant that he dares assume that his mastery is anything more than mild and fleeting, but it's better than nothing. Maybe. He has to believe that it is.   
  
He notes the blood on his scrubs and decides to change. Patients are afraid of blood. Most people are. Even if he already ran chakra through all of it on the off-chance that he's carrying some kind of infection, it still looks ghastly.

He tries not to notice that medium scrubs are getting too loose on him. Once, Hizashi had needed large scrubs thanks to a combination of height and healthy muscle. Over the last year, his body has tried its best to eat itself, though the Sage knows Hizashi forces down milkshakes and steaks every time he downs a few-too-many soldier pills. Which is often. The more surgeries he does, the more his skills improve (and the less he has to be home, though he avoids thinking about that).  
  
Hizashi avoids thinking about a lot of things lately.

He gathers his hair into a topknot. Pain spreads from his temples, down his neck, all the way to his shoulders. It’s not chakra exhaustion pain, just... pain. It’s the kind a secretary gets after her boss yells at her for something that she has nothing to do with. A tension headache.

He presses a hand against his brow, fingers sliding into his hair. Ugh. Yet another problem. Hizashi thinks of cutting it, not for the first time. His hair is the only vanity he indulges, and the silky strands can be used as chakra conductors in a pinch, but it sometimes escapes its cap and contaminates sterile surgical fields. Though at this point, there’s not much reason to plan for future surgeries.

He wanders to the bathroom, hoping that cold water to the face will... do something. He has three patients in critical condition, and one surgery scheduled for 1 AM. It’s an awful time to be doing things, but the ORs have been taken up by an ANBU team who'd been ambushed by something or other (Hizashi doesn't get to ask for mission details, nor does he care to most of the time). They had casually elbowed him out the morning Hizashi had reserved a room for this woman. By the time Konoha's ORs have another opening, the cancer will have eaten through her pulmonary arteries.  
  
Or Hizashi will be dead. Whichever comes first.   
  
He looks into the mirror after rubbing his eyes with cold water and frowns. It's like he's in a carnival, or looking at a genjutsu of himself. The sallow light of the on-call bathroom makes him appear jaundiced, and while Hyuuga are known for having large eyes, they're not supposed to look like the holes in a skull. Hiashi certainly looks nothing like this, and not because he doesn't have a neon-blue Seal branded onto his forehead.   
  
He almost doesn't hear the person who enters the bathroom while he stares at himself like a fool. He can't afford the petty waste of chakra to activate his Byakugan, so he glances over his shoulder.   
  
Hyuuga Mei Lin. Few medics in Konoha's hospital have the confidence to disrespect Hizashi so blatantly. Mei Lin is one of them. Most fellow Hyuuga medics are one of them. They know what Hizashi really is.   
  
"Are you well enough to work?" she asks.   
  
"Can't you check?"   
  
"I'm not asking if you have enough chakra," says Mei Lin. "That's never stopped you before."

Hizashi sighs. Normally, he suppresses those kinds of tells, but he's tired. He's just so fucking tired. "I can still..." He turns around. "I want to work."  
  
Mei Lin stares at him, beautiful face blank. She looks more like what his clan is supposed to look like: proud and placid, her thick, dark hair in a fishtail braid that trails down to the small of her back. The anemic light is no match for her confidence.   
  
"Why did you do it?"

There’s no need to clarify what “it” is.   
  
"I'm a whore." Hizashi shrugs. It's the simplest explanation, and what most people will say about him. It will do.   
  
"But you're not," says Mei Lin. "What you are is bitter and defeated."

Hizashi barks out a bitter laugh. “You know me so well…” Better than his brother, his _identical_ twin brother, and doesn’t that thought just sting. "I was born that way," he continues. "You should know better than most."   
  
Mei Lin frowns, which is the Hyuuga equivalent of hysterics. "Do you think this," she gestures at her headband-covered forehead, "is so terrible a curse that we should all plunge our home into civil war?"   
  
"I guess I do," says Hizashi.   
  
He hadn't thought so far ahead when Uchiha Mikoto kissed him all those years ago. Of course not. But now, he would be lying if he said he was sorry.

Mei Lin stares at him. He meets her eyes and refuses to blink. A full minutes passes with neither speaking or moving. An absolute stillness possesses them both. And yet, Hizashi feels he’s said more here than in his talk with Hiashi.  
  
Mei Lin blinks first, her thorough analysis of him completed. The look on her face could cool a burning coal. "Hopefully, you're the only one who dies." 

She bows in a mockery of polite manners, and leaves the bathroom. A few moments later, Hizashi notes that she hadn't even mentioned Neji.  
  
Good. Maybe people will stop associating them sooner than Hizashi had dared to hope. He already knows that if Hiashi stays in power, he won't punish Neji for Hizashi's betrayal. Hiashi is pretty fond of Neji.   
  
Of course, Hiashi probably won't stay in power for long, will he?   
  
Well, Hizashi hadn't worried about any of this while fucking Mikoto, when the worry might've served a purpose. No point in ruminating about it now.

**Author's Note:**

> Loudest_Voice: I'm now at [loudest-voice](https://loudest-voice.tumblr.com/) on tumblr. Chances are I won't be any better at this social media than any other. Come follow me if you got a tumblr!
> 
> Eloquentelegance: My tumblr is over at [cursedcomickids](https://cursedcomickids.tumblr.com/). It's mostly DC stuff but. Imma start putting some magic ninja content there too!!
> 
> Thanks to [@aluvsanime02](http://archiveofourown.org/users/luvsanime02/pseuds/luvsanime02) and [@pentapus](http://archiveofourown.org/users/pentapus/works) and [@Tanekore](http://archiveofourown.org/users/TaneKore/pseuds/TaneKore) for beta-reading this!


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